Integration ring

ABSTRACT

An integration ring is configured to interconnect two components, such as an exhaust manifold and a turbine housing. The integration ring may include an outer wall and an inner wall spaced apart from one another. A spacer may be positioned between the inner wall and outer wall. A first and second pocket may be formed between the inner and outer walls.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/452,373, entitled “Integration Ring,” filed on Mar.14, 2011, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to exhaust manifolds and turbinehousings, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus forintegrating an exhaust manifold and housing.

BACKGROUND

Many modern high performance engines generate extremely hot exhaust gasemissions. As these emissions are expelled from the engine and passthrough the exhaust manifold, the hot emissions heat the exhaustmanifold or pipes to increasingly high temperatures. Such hightemperatures cause the temperature of the components in the manifold,i.e. stampings, to elevate resulting in thermal expansion anddiscoloration of the components.

To account for the effects of high-temperature gas emissions, somemanifold designs employ a dual wall construction that utilizes an airgap between inner and outer components. In some instances the air gapmay be created using spacers or may be designed with a first wall andsecond wall spaced apart from one another. The resulting air gap betweenthe walls insulates the outer wall from the inner wall thereby reducingheat transfer to the outer wall. As a result, expansion, discolorationand excessive heating at the outer wall are minimized.

In engines having a turbocharger, the manifold is commonly connected toa turbine housing. The turbine housing may utilize the engine's exhaustto spin a turbine, which in turn spins an air pump to compress air. Thecompressed air is pumped into the cylinders during combustion. Theturbine housing typically includes an inlet for receiving the engine'sexhaust.

Some manifold/turbine housing configurations utilize a unitary body,meaning a single formed piece comprising the manifold and turbinehousing. Commonly, however, the manifold and housing are separate parts.Designs that utilize a separate housing and manifold allow forreplacement of system components as well as individual material choicesfor each component of the system. Such designs, however, may require acoupling between the manifold and the turbine housing.

Like the manifold, portions of the turbine housing may include a dualwall configuration. For example, the housing may include a dual wallportion having an air gap at or near its inlet. Therefore, the couplingbetween the manifold and turbine housing must account for the dual wallgeometries of both the manifold and the housing.

Traditional manifold to housing couplings suffer from severaldeficiencies. For example, as described above, heat from the engine maycause the inner walls of the manifold and turbine housing to expand. Themanifold to housing coupling must be designed to account for and permitsuch thermal expansion. At the same time, the coupling must minimize anyobstruction to air flow. Traditional designs fail to adequately accountfor thermal expansion while also maximizing smooth airflow through thesystem.

Therefore, an improved manifold to turbine housing connection is needed.

SUMMARY

An integration ring is generally provided. The integration ring mayinclude an inner wall and an outer wall spaced apart from the innerwall. A spacer may be positioned between the inner wall and outer wallto form a first pocket and a second pocket between the inner wall andthe outer wall. The pockets may be configured to receive a portion of acomponent, such as an exhaust manifold or a turbine housing. The pocketmay be sized to allow for thermal expansion of the component therein.

In an embodiment, the inner wall may be tapered, such as a tapered innersurface of the inner wall. The tapered surface may funnel air flowthrough the integration ring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Objects and advantages together with the operation of the invention maybe better understood by reference to the detailed description taken inconnection with the following illustrations, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an outer wall view of an exhaust manifold and turbinehousing connected by an integration ring;

FIG. 2 illustrates an inner wall view of an exhaust manifold and turbinehousing connected by an integration ring;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cutaway view of an integration ring connecting anexhaust manifold and turbine housing;

FIG. 4 illustrates a cutaway view of a tapered integration ringconnecting an exhaust manifold and turbine housing;

FIG. 5 illustrates a first alternative integration ring configuration;and

FIG. 6 illustrates a second alternative integration ring configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized,and structural and functional changes may be made, without departingfrom the respective scope of the present invention.

An exhaust manifold integration ring is presented, as shown in FIGS.1-4. The integration ring 10 is configured to couple an exhaust manifold12 to a second component, such as a turbine housing 14. It will beappreciated, however, that the integration ring 10 may be used to couplethe manifold 12 to any component, or alternatively may be used to coupleany other two or more components together.

The integration ring 10 may be any appropriate size and shape. Forexample, the integration ring 10 may be sized to engage a portion of theexhaust manifold 12 and may be generally tubular to interconnect twosimilarly shaped tubular sections. The integration ring 10 may becomposed of any appropriate material, such as cast iron.

The integration ring 10 may be sized and shaped to engage an outlet port16 in the exhaust manifold 12. The cross-sectional shape of theintegration ring 10 may be circular, square, or any appropriate shape tomatch the cross-sectional shape of the outlet port 16.

The integration ring 10 may comprise an inner wall 18 and an outer wall20. The inner wall 18 and outer wall 20 may be spaced apart to form anopening therebetween. In an embodiment, the integration ring 10 mayinclude a spacer 22 to interconnect the inner and outer walls 18, 20.The spacer 22 may divide the opening to form a first pocket 24 and asecond pocket 26. The first and second pockets 24, 26 may have anyappropriate cross-sectional size and shape, such as a rectangularcross-section, and may be arranged in any appropriate alignment, such asparallel to or linearly aligned with one another.

The integration ring 10 may be sized and shaped to allow the firstpocket 24 to receive a portion of the outlet port 16, such as an innerwall 28. The opening or first pocket 24 provides a slip fit between theintegration ring 10 and the outlet port 16. In other words, the outletport may move freely with respect to the integration ring 10. The slipfit may include sufficient clearances to allow for thermal expansion ofthe outlet port inner wall 28 within the pocket 24.

In an embodiment, the manifold 12 may be a dual wall manifold comprisingthe inner wall 28, an outer wall 30, and an air gap 32 therebetween. Asdescribed above, the inner wall 28 may be positioned within the openingbetween the inner and outer walls 18, 20 of the integration ring 10 in aslip fit arrangement. The outer wall 30 may be positioned about aportion of the outer wall 20. Due to the insulation provided by the airgap 32, the temperatures experienced at the outer wall 30 may be lowerthan the temperature at the inner wall 28. Accordingly, the outer wall30 may experience minimal or no thermal expansion. Therefore, the outerwall 30 may be directly connected to the outer wall 20. For example, theouter wall 30 may be welded to the outer wall 20 at a contact point 34.It will be appreciated, however, that the outer wall 30 may be connectedto the outer wall 20 by any means known in the art.

The integration ring 10 may engage a second component, such as a turbinehousing 14, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. For example, the second pocket26 may be configured to receive a portion of the turbine housing 14,such as an inlet port 36. The second pocket 26 provides a slip fitbetween the integration ring 10 and the inlet port 36. The slip fit mayinclude sufficient clearances to allow for thermal expansion of theinlet port 36 within the second pocket 26.

In an embodiment, the inlet port 36 may have a dual wall configurationcomprising an inner wall 38, an outer wall 40, and an air gap 42therebetween. The inner wall 38 may be positioned within the secondpocket 26 in a slip fit arrangement, as described above. The outer wall40 may be positioned about a portion of the outer wall 20. The outerwall 40 may be directly connected to the outer wall 20, such as weldedto the outer wall 20 at a contact point 44. It will be appreciated,however, that the outer wall 40 may be connected to the outer wall 20 byany means known in the art.

The integration ring 10 may be shaped to alter or manipulate the flow ofexhaust between the manifold 12 and the turbine housing 14. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 4, the integration ring 10 may include a taperedinterior surface 46 of the inner wall 18. The tapered interior surface46 may be wider at a first end of the integration ring 10 and narrowerat a second end of the integration ring 10. The tapered surface 46 mayfunnel the exhaust flow to the inlet port 36 of the turbine housing 14.While the integration ring 10 is shown and described as having a taperedinterior configuration, it will be appreciated that the inlet ring mayhave any appropriate interior shape to create the desired flowcharacteristics.

Notwithstanding the arrangement of the interior surface 46, the firstand second pockets 24, 26 may maintain a shape and arrangement to allowfor thermal expansion of the inner walls 28, 38. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 4, the first and second pockets 24, 26 may extendparallel to the inner walls 28, 38 to allow for thermal expansionthereof. In an embodiment, the first and second pockets 24, 26 may bearranged parallel to but offset from one another, as shown in FIG. 4. Itwill be appreciated, however, that the first and second pockets 24, 26may have any appropriate configuration to provide a slip fit with theinner walls 28, 38 while allowing for sufficient expansion therein.

In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the integration ring 10 maycomprise a single wall configuration, such as a T-shaped configuration.The ring 10 may comprise an outer wall 20 and a spacer 22 connectedthereto. The outer wall 20 may be positioned between the inner walls 28,38 and the outer walls 30, 40 of the manifold outlet port 16 and thehousing inlet port 36. The spacer 22 may protrude from the outer wall tofill a portion of the space between the manifold inner wall 28 and thehousing inner wall 38. The inner walls 28, 38 may be arranged to movefreely with respect to the integration ring 10. The integration ring 10may be positioned to allow sufficient clearances for thermal expansionof the inner walls 28, 38. The outer walls 30, 40 may be connecteddirectly to an outer surface of the integration ring 10. For example,the outer walls 30, 40 may be welded to the integration ring 10. Asshown, the integration ring 10 may maintain a separation between themanifold 12 and housing 14 while interconnecting the two components.

In an embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the integration ring 10 may comprisean inner wall 18 directly connected to an outer wall 20 without a spacetherebetween. The inner wall 18 and outer wall 20 may be laterallyoffset from one another to form an S-shaped configuration. The outerwall 20 may be directly connected, such as welded, to the outer walls30, 40. The inner walls 28, 38 may be arranged to freely move withrespect to the integration ring 10. In particular, the manifold innerwall 28 may be positioned adjacent to the inner surface of the outerwall 20, while the housing inner wall 38 may be positioned about theouter surface of the inner wall 18. It will be appreciated that thearrangement of the housing and manifold may also be reversed. Theintegration ring 10 may be arranged to provide sufficient clearances forthermal expansion of the inner walls 28, 38.

The invention has been described above and, modifications andalterations will occur to others upon a reading and understanding ofthis specification. The claims as follows are intended to include allmodifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope ofthe claims or the equivalent thereof.

1. An integration ring comprising: an outer wall; an inner wall spaced apart from the outer wall; a spacer interconnecting the outer wall and the inner wall; a first pocket formed between the outer wall and the inner wall; and a second pocket formed between the outer wall and the inner wall.
 2. The integration ring of claim 1, wherein the first pocket is configured to receive a portion of an exhaust manifold therein.
 3. The integration ring of claim 2, wherein the first pocket is larger than the portion of the exhaust manifold received therein to allow for thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold.
 4. The integration ring of claim 2, wherein the portion of the exhaust manifold includes an inner wall of an outlet port of the exhaust manifold.
 5. The integration ring of claim 2, wherein the exhaust manifold is a dual wall exhaust manifold.
 6. The integration ring of claim 5, wherein an outer wall of the dual wall exhaust manifold is connected to the outer wall of the integration ring.
 7. The integration ring of claim 1, wherein the second pocket is configured to receive a portion of a turbine housing therein.
 8. The integration ring of claim 7, wherein the second pocket is larger than the portion of the turbine housing received therein to allow for thermal expansion of the turbine housing.
 9. The integration ring of claim 7, wherein the portion of the turbine housing includes an inner wall of an inlet port of the turbine housing.
 10. The integration ring of claim 7, wherein the turbine housing is a dual wall turbine housing.
 11. The integration ring of claim 10, wherein an outer wall of the dual wall turbine housing is connected to the outer wall of the integration ring.
 12. The integration ring of claim 1, wherein the integration ring has a generally circular cross-sectional shape.
 13. An integration ring comprising: an outer wall; an inner wall spaced apart from the outer wall; a spacer interconnecting the outer wall and the inner wall; and wherein an interior surface of the inner wall is tapered to be wider at a first end of the integration ring and narrower at a second end of the integration ring.
 14. The integration ring of claim 13 further comprising a first pocket formed between the inner wall and the outer wall.
 15. The integration ring of claim 14 further comprising a second pocket formed between the inner wall and the outer wall, wherein the first and second pocket are separated by the spacer.
 16. The integration ring of claim 14, wherein the first pocket is configured to receive a portion of an exhaust manifold.
 17. The integration ring of claim 15, wherein the second pocket is configured to receive a portion of a turbine housing.
 18. The integration ring of claim 15, wherein the first and second pockets are linearly offset from one another.
 19. The integration ring of claim 16, wherein a portion of the exhaust manifold is connected to the outer wall.
 20. The integration ring of claim 17, wherein a portion of the turbine housing is connected to the outer wall.
 21. An integration ring comprising: an outer wall comprising an outer surface and an inner surface; a spacer protruding from the inner surface of the outer wall; a portion of a first component connected to the outer surface of the outer wall; and a portion of a second component connected to the outer surface of the outer wall.
 22. The integration ring of claim 21, wherein the first component is a dual walled exhaust manifold including an outer wall and an inner wall.
 23. The integration ring of claim 22, wherein the inner wall of the exhaust manifold is capable of moving freely with respect to the integration ring.
 24. The integration ring of claim 22, wherein the second component is a dual walled turbine housing including an outer wall and an inner wall.
 25. The integration ring of claim 24, wherein the inner wall of the turbine housing is capable of moving freely with respect to the integration ring
 26. The integration ring of claim 24, wherein the spacer extends up to a space formed between the inner wall of the exhaust manifold and the inner wall of the turbine housing.
 27. An integration ring comprising: an outer wall comprising an outer surface and an inner surface; an inner wall connected to the inner surface of the outer wall and offset from the outer wall; a portion of a first component connected to the outer surface of the outer wall; and a portion of a second component connected to the outer surface of the outer wall.
 28. The integration ring of claim 27, wherein the first component is a dual walled exhaust manifold including an outer wall and an inner wall.
 29. The integration ring of claim 28, wherein the inner wall of the exhaust manifold is positioned inside the outer wall of the integration ring.
 30. The integration ring of claim 29, wherein the inner wall of the exhaust manifold is capable of freely moving with respect to the integration ring.
 31. The integration ring of claim 27, wherein the second component is a dual walled turbine housing including an outer wall and an inner wall.
 32. The integration ring of claim 31, wherein the inner wall of the turbine housing is positioned outside of the inner wall of the integration ring.
 33. The integration ring of claim 32, wherein the inner wall of the turbine housing is capable of freely moving with respect to the integration ring. 